1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to construction specifications and other documents, and more particularly to systems and methods that facilitate and integrate research of information for inclusion in such documents with inclusion of the researched information into the documents.
2. Background and Related Art
Construction specifications, along with drawings, are prepared as part of the contract documents for constructing a facility and are typically assembled into a Project Manual along with the bidding documents. Part of the process of preparing specifications includes researching construction products, materials, systems, and assemblies for inclusion of relevant information into the specifications.
The current state of the art for researching products is for design professionals to review hardcopy binders of manufacturer's products, view manufacturer's web sites, or view online product directories. This can be a tedious and time-consuming process for design professionals. After construction products are selected, design professionals determine the features, capabilities, and attributes of the products that are appropriate for the project. Once that has been done, design professionals must generate and include the appropriate language in the specification. This process includes indicating the manufacturer's name and the product name. This specifying process is currently disconnected from the researching process. Similar problems may be encountered in industries other than the construction specification industry.